Overindulgence and Bullying (e.g., Post Xmas Bargains & Boxing Day).

How our material culture is connected to bullying.

“Materialism is an equal-opportunity crisis. Cradle-to-grave marketing targets everyone at every level of society, even toddlers and babies. Between the ages of 2 and 11, a time of intense brain development, children see more than 25,000 advertisements a year on TV alone.

Children are being taught to nag their parents until they get what they want. The authority of parents is constantly usurped. When exhausted parents give in, traditional values are challenged, weakened, and undermined.

“Overindulgence doesn’t just drain your bank account; it can cripple your children’s chances of becoming healthy, happy adults,” says David Walsh, Ph.D., author of Selling Out America’s Children.

Too much stuff, too much entertainment, too much freedom, too many choices characterize our generation of children. Exploited by marketers concerned with gain and profits, children are being shaped by forces that don’t care what shape they are in.

The bullying connection.  

Regrettably, a cycle of overindulgence undercuts important human development: self-restraint, self-discipline,responsibility, participation in family life, and chores. Bullying comes naturally to children without these qualities. Bullies do not have self-restraint, and victims react impulsively.”*

Post Xmas Bargains & Boxing Day.

Bargains

We’ve all seen pictures of holiday shopping excesses like people struggling over bargains offered on Black Friday after Thanksgiving.

—What do you think of the overindulgence represented by such excesses, especially the violence of late?

—Do you feel bullying and violence are connected?

—And what do you think about the consumerism manifested during CyberMonday which follows hot on the heels of Black Friday?

—More orderly overindulgence, but still overindulgence?

—And what about the growing materialism of post Xmas bargains and sales?

December 26 used to be when one exchanged those god-awful gifts your distant relatives gave you. Big box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart and staples like Target and the Gap see the 26th as a chance to make up for poor pre Xmas sales . . . and, of course, to cash in on the billions people spend giving gift cards.

Boxing Day

But what the heck is Boxing Day?
It’s a Bank Holiday in Britain (and I remember a lot of those during two academic sabbaticals in England), but mostly it’s becoming more and more a day for bargain hunting just like December 25 in the U.S..

Till recently, Boxing Day in the U.K. was mostly a time for a post Xmas day of holiday cheer including organized soccer and other sports events plus unorganized zany fun by individual eccentrics. And, too, Boxing Day was a time for giving to the poor by opening Charity Boxes—think Salvation Army containers— and distributing the money stuffed into them.

The charity aspect of Boxing Day is related a bit to a merchant shipping custom and also to the custom 
of masters giving a ‘Christmas Box/gift’ to their servants on the 26th and then the day off so servants could go home and give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their family members.

—Do you think consumers today look to the 26th for clearance sales and Black Friday- type  deep discounts.

—And do you think much like Black Friday, all of the largest retail chains will be using day-after-Christmas extended early opening and late closing store hours as a competitive tool to attract as many shoppers through the doors of their physical stores as possible.

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 *An adapted excerpt from Chapter 1 of a positive parenting guide, The Bullying Antidote,“ an in-depth trove of easy-to-implement strategies in abuse prevention” that “triumphs as an in-depth guide to the troubling world of bullying” (quotes by readers). Louise Hart Ed.D. (www.drlouisehart.com) is also the author of The Winning Family and On the Wings of Self-Esteem with co-author Kristen Caven (www.kristencaven.com). Learn more about bullying by perusing and subscribing to The Zorgos Reader: zorgos.wordpress.com.

 

My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.